Ladder-foot.



- A. J. LUNSER.

LADDER FOOT.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 25. I916. 1,300,430. Patented-Apr; 15,1919.

Z I I5- 1 5 ic'liunaen vi/fneooco unis 2| ALEXANDER J. LUNSER, 0]? LONG PRAIRIE, MINNESOTA.

LADDER-FOOT.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALEXANDER J. LUN- snn, a. citizen of the United States,residing at Long Prairie, in the county of Todd and Stateof Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ladder- Feet; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in a ladder foot and one of its objects is the provision of a device of this character, which shall be simple, durab-leand efficient, and which may be manufactured and sold at a comparatively low cost.

Another object of this invention is to provide a ladder foot adjustably secured to each of the ends of the upright rails of a ladder, whereby either of the feet may be adjusted away from the ends of the ladder so as to support the ladder horizontally upon uneven ground.

A further object of this invention is to provide bracketssecured to the upright rails of the ladder to receive adjustable bars, having a plurality of rack teeth to be engaged by a cam lever carried by one of the brackets to lock the bars at any desired 1 position.

' being employed upon uneven ground which will prevent the ends of the upright rails, which are usually constructed of wood, from becoming worn or mutilated.

With these and other objects in view as will become more apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a fragmentary front elevation of a ladder illustrating the ladder feet secured thereto, constructed in accordance with my invention,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side view of one Specification of Iletters Patent.

Patented Apr. 15, 1919.

Application filed February 25, 1916. Serial No. 80,444.

of the upright rails of a ladder, illustrating my invention applied thereto and in an ex-' tended position,

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional View of one of the brackets, taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional View of the other bracket taken 'on the line 44 of Fig. 2.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral '1 indicates a ladder consisting of upright rails 2 and 3, connected together by rungs 4, to which my invention is applied.

Secured to the upright rails 2 and 3 by nuts. 6 are bolts 5, having plates 7 formed on the outer end. A substantially U-shaped plate 8 is formed on each of theplates 7 and slidably receives adjusting bars 9, having a plurality of rack teeth 11 formed on one edge thereof. Cam levers 12, having handles 13 and enlarged portions 14 are pivoted to each of the U-shaped plates at one side of the plates 7 by bolts 15. The enlarged portions 14 engage within the teeth 11 of the rods 9 when the cam levers 12 are swung inwardly toward the plates 7 as illustrated in Fig. 3, to lock the bars at various positions.

Secured to the lower ends of the upright rails 2 and 3 of the ladder 1 by nuts 17 are bolts 16 having plates 18 formed on the outer end thereof, a substantially U-shaped plate 19 is formed on each of the plates 18 to receive the bars 9 and sup-port them in parallel alinement with the lower ends of the upright rails'2 and 3.

Formed on and extending at right angles to the bars 9 are feet 20. The feet 20 act as efficient rests for the upright rails 2 and 3 of the ladder 1, when in an extended posi tion or when in engagement with the ends of the upright rails 2 and 3, and in this position the feet 20 prevent the ends of the upright rails from becoming worn by resting upon the ground or from being dragged upon the ground when moving the ladder from one place to another.

In operation, when the ladder 1 is to be employed upon uneven ground, which frequently occurs around buildings and such places, one of the bars 9 is extended by swinging the respective cam lever 12 upon its pivot until the enlarged portion 14 disengages the teeth 11. The bar 9 is then extended until the foot carried thereby comes in contact with the ground and the cam lever 13 is then swung back to its normal position,

. which holds the bar 9 against upward and downward movement in relation to the upright rails to which it is applied. The upright rails 2 and 3 will then be supported evenly as if resting upon level ground as clearly illustrated in F ig. 1; thus the ladder may be ascended by a person without the danger of its slipping or falling from engagement with th'e building or other object against which it is resting.

The cam levers 12 are pivoted to the under sides of the housings 8, and are arranged at right angles with relation to the rack bars 9. When the cam levers 12 are in ac-' dental disconnection of the cam levers from the housings during the'use of the ladder. The cam levers also, when in active position, engage between pairs of the rack teeth 11 and" hold the bars against any upward or downward movements with relation to the ladder. This permits the ladder to be shifted Without danger of the rack bars becoming out of adjustment.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that minor changes in construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from-the spirit and-scope of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is An adjustable foot for-ladders comprising in "combination" with a ladder "housings secured "to'one side rail 'of thelad'der, a rack bar adjustably mounted in'thehousings and provided witha foot, and a cam leverpivoted "to the under side of one of the housings and arranged at'right angles with relation'toth'era'ck bar, said cam lever being adapted to be swung transversely across the rack teeth to secure the-rack bar in adjusted position again'st'upward or downward movements with relation to the ladder, and said cam lever'being adapted when in rack bar securing position" to engage the under side of the 'hol'ising;

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence 'oftwo witnesses.

ALE ANDER LUNS E R.

lVitn'esses;

A- J- Q'D MABEL WHEELER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for -fiv'e cents each, -byaddressing the fionim i ssioner of =Patents,

Washington, 0. 

